Munakata Shiko Memorial Museum of Art, Art museum in Aomori, Japan

The Munakata Shiko Memorial Museum of Art was a museum in Matsubara, Aomori, dedicated to the woodblock printmaker Shiko Munakata, who was born in the city. Its two-story reinforced-concrete building, modeled on the ancient azekura log storehouse, stood in a pond-strolling Japanese garden on about 2,800 square meters of city land. It closed on 31 March 2024.

The museum opened in November 1975 in Aomori City's Matsubara district, built to mark Munakata Shiko's receipt of the Order of Culture, on about 2,800 square metres of city land lent free to the foundation. In 2012 it absorbed the Munakata Hangakan in Kamakura, taking in 497 works in 1,112 pieces and raising its holdings to over 1,900. It closed on 31 March 2024 after 49 years and about 1.95 million visitors; the collection passed to the Aomori Prefectural Museum of Art.

Munakata Shiko came from Aomori and built his reputation with woodblock prints made using very simple tools and raw, direct lines. Walking through the galleries, visitors can see how he drew from Buddhist imagery and Japanese folk traditions to create a body of work that feels both ancient and personal.

The museum closed permanently on 31 March 2024, so the building and its Japanese garden can no longer be visited as a museum. Its collection of over 1,900 Munakata works was transferred to the Aomori Prefectural Museum of Art. Aomori City plans to reuse the building for hands-on printmaking activities.

The building was constructed using the Azekura method, an old Japanese technique in which notched wooden beams are stacked together without nails. This method dates back to the Nara period and is almost never used in modern buildings, which makes this museum unusual for its type.